Brick



Nov. 10, 1936. Q N. YAMA MOTO 2,060,361

BRICK Filed Nov. 1'7, 1934 Patented Nov. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to the construction of a load-supporting wall,and a building block or brick from which the wall is constructed.Ordinarily, brick walls are relatively weak under earthquake shocks, asthe movements of the building foundation shear the wall in thehorizontal planes in which the mortar is laid that connects the rows ortiers of bricks that form the wall. It is believed that such shearingusually occurs between the mortar and the faces of the bricks. In otherwords, there appears to be a plane of weakness on the face of each brickwhere the mortar is adhering to it.

The general object of this invention is to provide a wall constructionand a brick of a form to overcome this defect.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wall composed ofblocks or bricks so constructed as to increase the effectiveness of thebond between the mortar and the face of Vthe brick, and also to providethe bricks with means to cooperate with the mortar in forming this bondin such a way that shearing forces will be effectively resisted by thebond between the bricks and the mortar, regardless of the direction inwhich the shearing force is applied. In other words, the wall embodyingthis invention, should resist transverse shearing forces as well asshearing forces in a plane extending longitudinally with the directionof the wall.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wall having theseshear-resisting qualities, but which, in external appearance, willresemble an Ordinary brick Wall.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to bedescribed hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficientbrick, and wall construction.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspeciiication, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation and partial section showing the end of awall embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the upper face of a building block or brickembodying my invention, with two diagonally opposite corners of thebrick broken away to illustrate the cross section of the brick.

In studying the effects of earthquakes on loadsupporting brick walls, ithas been found that such walls afford very little resistance to thehorizontal shearing forces which are developed in such walls during anearthquake. This appears to be due to the fact that there is not aneffective bond between the face of the mortar and the face of the bricklaid on, or under, the mortar. In accordance with my invention I providea brick having special construction for obtaining a very effective bondbetween the mortar and the face of the brick. The means for attainingthis effect is applied in such a way that shearing forces will beresisted regardless of the direction in which they occur. Furthermore,the building block or brick embodying my invention, is constructed insuch a way that the outward appearance of the Wall is substantially thesame as an ordinary brick wall.

Referring more particularly to the parts, I indicates a portion of theend of a wall composed of building blocks or bricks 2, laid upon afoundation 3. This wall is formed in the usual manner by laying thebricks in horizontal tiers or rows with mortar 4 between the beddingfaces of the brick and on the upper face of the foundation 3. The brick2 preferably has the dimensions of Va standard brick, and is formed withupper and lower faces 5 and 6, which are the faces of the largest area,and which I call the ilat faces or sides of the brick. In applying myinvention to a brick and wall of this kind, I provide the bedding facesof the bricks with corrugations extending transversely to the brick, andthese corrugations are preferably in the form of a single series ofshallow V-shaped grooves 1, which extend parallel with each other oneach bedding face. These grooves furthermore, preferably extend in aninclined direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the brickand with respect to the side edges of the flat faces of the brick. Thesegrooves preferably do not extend throughout the entire area of thebrick, but leave a plain margin 8 extending around the periphery of thebrick. By reason of the fact that the grooves 'l extend down into theface of the brick, small faces or shoulders 9 are formed at each end ofeach groove, and these grooves form pockets into which the mortar isreceived when the brick is laid into a wall, as indicated in thevertical section of Fig. 1. These end faces 9 produce a bond between themortar and the brick, which would resist any shearing force acting in ahorizontal plane, and substantially parallel with the longitudinal axesof the grooves. It will be evident that any horizontal shearing forceacting in any other direction, will be resisted by the grooves or by theribs III, which are formed between the grooves.

The grooves on one fiat face of the brick extend in an oppositedirection to the grooves on the other flat face of the brick. This isindicated by the dotted lines I I in Fig. 2.

In order to increase the bond between the ends of adjacent bricks, Iprefer also to provide one end face I2 of each brick with grooves I3,which are similar to the grooves 'I and which extend in an inclineddirection, that is to say, these grooves extend along a line inclined tothe upper and lower edges of the end face of the brick. Furthermore, oneof the edge faces I4 of the brick is provided with similar grooves I5,which also extend in a direction inclined from a vertical line. Thegrooves I3 and I5 preferably do not extend all the way through theheight of the brick, but should leave a plain margin or border aroundthis end face of the brick. This is indicated by the dotted lines I5 inFig. 1.

In order to enable the wall to have substantially the same externalappearance as a wall constructed of ordinary bricks, I preferto provideeach brick with a plain end face II and a plain side face or edge faceI8. In laying the bricks the face I8 will be placed on the outer face ofthe wall, and when the bricks are being laid at the end of the wall asindicated in Fig. 1, the plain faces I'I of the bricks are laid so thatthey align with the end face of the wall. In this way a wall can beconstructed in which there is a very effective bond between the mortarand the bricks, but at the same time, the wall has the appearance of anordinary brick wall. 'Ihe use of plain faces on the exterior of the wallhas another advantage in addition to the better appearance of the wall,because by having plain faces on the exterior, there are no groovesexposed which could accumulate dirt.

It will be evident that a wall constructed as described, will be veryhighly resistant to horizontal shearing forces such as are developedduring earthquakes.

What I claim is:

l. A load-supporting wall Composed of bricks laid in a plurality ofsubstantially horizontal rows, said bricks having transverse grooves ontheir horizontal faces extending in a direction inclined to thelongitudinal axes of the bricks with mortar laid between said rows ofbricks and extending into said grooves.

2. A load-supporting wall composed of bricks laid in a plurality ofsubstantially horizontal rows, said bricks having transverse grooves ontheir horizontal faces extending in a direction inclined to thelongitudinal axes of the bricks, with mortar laid between said rows ofbricks and extending into said grooves, said bricks also having endfaces with grooves extending in a direction inclined to a vertical lineon said end faces,

and mortar laid in the spaces between the adjacent end faces of saidbricks and extending into said last named grooves.

3. A load-supporting wall composed of bricks laid in a plurality ofsubstantially horizontal rows, said bricks having their horizontal facessubstantially covered with substantially parallel grooves extending in adirection inclined to the longitudinal axes of the bricks with mortarlaid between said rows of bricks and extending into said grooves, saidbricks also having end faces with substantially parallel groovesextending in a direction inclined to a vertical line on said end faces,and mortar laid in the spaces between the adjacent end faces of saidbricks and extending into said last named grooves, the exposed outerfaces of the bricks in the wall being plain faces.

4. A wall construction composed of bricks laid in a plurality ofsubstantially horizontal rows, the horizontal faces of said bricks beingsubstantially covered with substantially parallel grooves extending in adirection inclined to the longitudinal axes of the bricks, with mortarlaid between said rows of bricks and extending into said grooves, saidbricks also having end faces with substantially parallel groovesextending in a direction inclined to a vertical line on said end faces,and mortar filling the spaces between the adjacent end faces of saidbricks and extending into said last named grooves, said bricks at theend of the wall having plain faces on the exposed end of the wall.

5. A brick for constructing a wall having its upper and lower beddingfaces substantially covered with substantially parallel transversegrooves of substantially equal depth extending in a direction inclinedto the longitudinal axis of the brick, and with the grooves in the upperface inclined in an opposite direction to the grooves in the lower face.

6. A brick for constructing a wall, having a single series ofsubstantially parallel adjacent transverse grooves on each of itsbedding faces, said faces having the greatest area of al1 the faces ofthe brick, said grooves extending in a direction inclined to thelongitudinal axis of the brick, said brick having grooves in one of itslongitudinal edge faces extending in a direction inclined to thelongitudinal edges of the brick.

7. A brick for constructing a wall, having a single series ofsubstantially parallel and adjacent transverse grooves on each of itsbedding faces, said bedding faces having the greatest area of all thefaces of said brick, said grooves extending in a direction inclined tothe longitudinal axis of the brick, said brick also having an end facewith transverse grooves extending in a direction inclined to the edgesof the said end face.

OTOTARO N. YAMA MOTO.

